Sign: Open-Intake Shelter In Philadelphia Is Underfunded And Lacking Staff!

Conditions at the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia (ACCT Philly) are bad enough right now that animal welfare activists are staging a rally on Wednesday afternoon in an effort to encourage Mayor Kenney and the City of Philadelphia to allocate resources to help offset shelter animal suffering.

The shelter is underfunded and understaffed - which means that the homeless pets who are being held do not receive the level of care that they should. An animal advocate posted damning images to social media on Sunday, writing:

"Do these pictures make you mad? They should. ACCT is significantly underfunded; the most underfunded shelter of any of the large cities. As a result, the animals suffer as there are significant resources lacking to manage the voluminous intake. Right now, there is only one kennel attendant at a time covering both cats and dogs. That’s around 250 kennels. The animals of Philadelphia deserve better."

(Image via Kandis Lynn/Facebook)

Who's signing

Rachael Gilliam

Kingston Buchanan

Karen Dodson

Wendy Mitchell

Rebecca Thomas

Ana Santos

T Stevenson

Denise Coll

Mary Elizabeth Cameron

Birgit Müller

Nina Marrocco

Stacey Liguori

Patricia McWilliams

Joanne Cohen

John Orlitta

Paula Crawford

Αθανασια Ζηρογιαννη

Amy Young

Tracy Boreham

Barbara Chichester

Wendy Forster

Dana Ufkes

Maria Lindgren

Terrie Williams

Ruth Cotter

Joanna Hardeman

Darlene Williams

Connor Hansell

Sylvia Head-Gallegos

Joanne Howard

Update 08/29/2019: Our letter and petition with your signatures and comments have been sent to Mayor James Kenney, at City Hall, Office 215 Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Update 8/22/19: Animal welfare advocates showed up at a rally at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to demand more funding for the animals in the care of ACCT Philly. Protester Casey Buckley tells CBS Philadelphia, "Not enough funding in the shelter creates overcrowding, creates medical conditions, it creates PTSD for the dogs, it creates PTSD for the staff."

ACCT Philly takes in an estimated 20,000 unwanted pets each year, but the conditions for these homeless animals are reported to be dismal. Shelter volunteer Ian Griffiths tells CBS that the open-intake shelter is rat-infested, run-down, moldy and falling apart, with some kennels duct-taped together. Griffiths said, "They don’t have any money. The conditions are terrible."

Adding, “San Diego, their board raises $20 million a year, DC raises $8 million a year and even in a tiny little town like Baltimore, their board raises $2.3 million a year and six members of the ACCT board contributes zero financially since 2012."

Supporters would like to see most of the current board members resign and new members, committed to fundraising, put in their stead.

Please add your name to the petition asking for the mayor and city officials to allocate more funds to this large, open-intake animal care facility. Staff at ACCT Philly need additional support to properly care for the hundreds of homeless, abandoned, and abused animals who reside here.

Recently, the shelter received a $1 million dollar Petco Foundation Grant, but the funds were misused. Suffice to say, there are obvious problems and shortcomings at the facility which need to be addressed for the sake of the animals. Read more here

There is strength in numbers - please show your support by signing now!

City Hall protest scheduled for Wednesday, August 21, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (1401 John F Kennedy Blvd.Philadelphia)

Ignorant humans have a abandoned these innocent animals, humans now need to take responsibility and take care of these vulnerable animals at this shelter and provide adequate care, food and water, kindness and compassion. These animals deserve nothing less than a safe place with everything they need until they hopefully get rehomed.

This is disgraceful, would you let you’re beloved pet spend one day in a shelter like this? How can a city the size of Philadelphia expect their city shelter to manage on its own? These poor animals are in a shelter to no fault of their own, and they deserve better. Do something about you’re overpopulation if you are unable to care for the abandoned and homeless and make Spay and Neuter a law.

This is uncalled for and need everything revamped. These animals deserve so much better and it is our responsibility to make sure that happens. More staff need to be hired, and $$$ needs to go to the welfare of the shelter animals. They deserve to live in a clean environment with sufficient staff and vet to care for them. They deserve beds and toys and exercise to enrich their lives so that they do not have PTSD and to make them more adoptable. ACCT board needs to be replaced if they are not making all of happen. They need a board that is looking out for the animals welfare.